Anaesthetic management for caesarean section in a patient with Kawasaki disease

Kawasaki disease (KD) or mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome is an acute febrile illness affecting mainly children under four years of age. The most important clinical feature of this disease is coronary arteritis associated with aneurysms and thrombotic occlusions, which may lead to ischaemic heart disease or sudden death. It has now been more than 20 yr since its first description, and a number of survivors of childhood KD have reached child-bearing age. Despite the possible fatal outcome of this disease in adult patients with coronary artery manifestations, no information is available regarding the obstetrical anaesthetic management of patients with a history of KD. The purpose of this report is to describe the successful use of epidural anaesthesia in a patient with a history of KD undergoing Caesarean section and to discuss the anaesthetic considerations that should be given to adult survivors of childhood KD.